Indian police net key suspect in 2008 Mumbai attacks
Three Indians light candels in tribute to victims, on the third anniversary of the 2008 Mumbai militant attacks, in Jammu on November 26, 2011. India reminded Pakistan November 26 it was still awaiting “decisive” action against perpetrators of the attacks which left 166 people dead and 300 injured.
Indian police have arrested a man suspected of plotting the November 2008 terrorist attacks on Mumbai at New Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport.
Police arrested suspected terrorist Abu Hamza upon his arrival in Delhi from the Gulf, television channel CNN/IBN reported.
Hamza was produced before the court and remanded to 15 days in police custody, after which his stay with the authorities will most likely be extended, the paper said.
The authorities suspect that 30-year-old Hamza, alias Sayeed Zabi ud Deen alias Zabi Ansari alias Riyasat Ali, is a terrorist operative of the banned Indian Mujahideen. He is an Indian national who allegedly traveled to Pakistan to train the perpetrators of the November 2008 attacks — in which 10 terrorists stormed the main railway station and several Mumbai hotels, killing 166 people and injuring 300.
According to CNN/IBN, the authorities believe that Hamza's voice can be heard on a conversation between the 10 terrorists and their handlers in Pakistan, which was recorded during the attacks.
The channel quotes unnamed sources as saying that Hamza was allegedly in Karachi on the other end of the call, issuing instructions to the terrorists.
The authorities also believe that Hamza may be the man identified by Ajmal Kasab, the lone terrorist arrested during the Mumbai attack, as Abu Jindal. In a deposition before a special court, Kasab said Jindal had taught the 10 attackers to speak Hindi so they could blend in with the local population before the assault.
Hamza was named as one of India's most wanted in a recent dossier sent by India to Pakistan. There was also an Interpol notice against him in 2009.